How The Hawk Met The Widow
by Dixon-Vixen13
Summary: This is my take on how Clint and Natasha met, how he was sent to kill her but 'made a different call'. The first in a series of slightly connected one shots. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Volgograd

**This is my take on how Hawkeye and Black Widow met. I don't own the characters or anything Marvel.. I just wish I did.**

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"Barton!" Fury barked as he entered the range. "My office…now"

"Yes sir!" Barton replied obediently, firing one last arrow at his target hitting it dead in the centre.

"I have a new mission for you" Fury began as Clint wandered in and took a seat. "Natalia Alianovna Romanova aka The Black Widow" he stated as a photo appeared on the screen in front of them. A Russian spy and master assassin, trained in 'The Red Room'. I think the name basically tells you her m.o. She has been on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar for a few years now, but in a recent OP she came across two of our Agents looking for the same mark, needless to say they didn't make it out of there.

Barton surveyed the photo for a moment. This woman was beautiful to say the least, from her long flowing red hair, to her blue/green eyes, to the curves of her body. How could a woman like her be such a ruthless killer?

"So what exactly is the purpose of this mission Sir?"

"Capture and eliminate the threat Agent Barton. Your plane leaves for Russia in one hour."

"Yes Sir"

It took Barton less than 24 hours after arriving Volgograd to track down the infamous Black Widow. He watched her for days, studying everything about her. The way she walked, the way she talked, the way she fought. Especially the way she fought.

Not that he would need to go up against her in hand to hand combat. No. He could take her out in a split second with just one arrow from any one of his vantage points he had set up while watching her.

In a way he felt sorry for her. There had to be a reason her life had gone down the dark path of contract killing. People aren't simply born cold blooded killers, and from the little he knew about The Red Room, he knew that there had to be more to her story.

He watched silently from his perch on top of an adjoining building as she effortlessly took down a couple of bodyguards standing at the rear entrance of a high class bar, working for some heavy hitter mob boss. Clint knew from the file Fury gave him that he was her target. Arkady Kovaleva. Son of a Bitch had a long list of skeletons in his closet, and if he was being honest with himself he didn't care if The Black Widow succeeded in her mission. That bastard deserved to die anyway.

So he waited patiently for the Widow to carry out her mission, watching her every move with his Hawkeye vision moving to different vantage points to get a better view through the few windows and skylights available, and then he would strike.

Barton couldn't help but be impressed by her. The way she moved around effortlessly, almost a cross between gymnastics and dance, it was beautiful. She took down men twice her size without even breaking a sweat. She was well trained.

He made his way to a higher vantage point to get a better view through the skylight. The Widow had now made her way to the top floor where she knew her target would be. He watched as she discarded her gun before she sauntered in to the near empty room, swinging her hips in a way that no man could ignore. Clint chuckled to himself as Kovaleva started to drool over her like a puppy dog. Hastily he lept across to the building where his mark was and watched her carefully as she seduced the poor schmuck.

She flirted, and giggled as she ran her fingers along his arm, and he fell hook line and sinker for her little act. What he didn't notice was that she had put something in his drink as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Probably something along the lines of 'you wanna get out of here?' Clint guessed by the way Kovaleva's face lit up. He must've thought he was one lucky guy, taking a woman like her home. She was clearly way out of his league.

The Widow stood up and started to leave, but not before turning and giving her mark a seductive wink that had him knocking back the last of his drink and quickly following along behind her. Clint lept back to his previous spot where he had a view of the alley at the back of the building. He watched as she lured Arkady outside, where the man was already looking worse for wear, stumbling around like he was drunk. With one swift movement the Widow had buried her knife in his chest and lay him down against the wall with the two bodyguards from earlier.

Just like that it was all over, in and out in a matter of minutes. She took a moment to survey her work. Silently Clint made his way down the fire escape of the building he was perched on. When he got to the bottom, he drew and arrow and aimed it directly at his target. He hesitated for a moment, not able to convince himself to let the arrow fly, and that's when she turned and looked him right in the eye.

"You've come to kill me?" she asked calmly.

"Yep" Clint replied bluntly.

"You wouldn't be the first… You work for him?" she questioned as she nodded her head towards one dead Arkady Kovaleva.

"Nope, I work for much bigger fish" he told her as he slowly walked closer to her.

"So who do you work for?"

"That's classified"

"Pfft" she laughed. "What is this, the x-files? Who even says that anymore?"

Clint couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked when she laughed. He wanted to see the good in her. Somehow he knew that it was in there somewhere, he could see it in her eyes. She wasn't just a cold blooded killer. She had been brainwashed into thinking that killing was her purpose in life, but she didn't entirely believe it. So he took a chance and put the arrow back in his quiver and lowered his bow.

"I thought you were here to kill me?"

"I was, but I changed my mind"

"That's too bad" she replied and she whipped out a knife and attempted to slash Clint's chest. Quickly he blocked her attack and countered with a strike to her arm, making her drop it. She raised her knee and drove it into his stomach. He backed away but recovered quickly, lunging forward striking her in the ribs, following up with a swift kick to the opposite side. Yet she just kept coming, her fist colliding with the left side of Clint's face.

The both backed up a little and stared at one another. Strategizing on how to best take the other down. Clint made the first move, sweeping his right leg in attempt to get her on the ground, but she was too quick. She countered his attack wrapping her thighs around his neck with one of her signature moves, flipping him over and bringing him down to the ground. She had the advantage, but that wouldn't last long.

Suddenly they were interrupted by shouting followed by the sound of a gunshot. Judging by the ungraceful way The Widow tumbled off Clint suggested she was at least clipped by that bullet. Without a second thought Clint grabbed his bow, drew and arrow and fired it straight into the chest of the man standing over Kovaleva's body with a gun drawn. As they bodyguard fell to the ground two more emerged from the building with guns pointed in his direction.

Quickly he glanced back to the assassin he had been fighting with mere seconds ago to she was standing behind him, her own gun drawn ready to shoot the men down. Together in a storm of bullets and arrows they took down the two bodyguards, and the next three that emerged from the other end of the alley, both receiving a few minor injuries in the process.

Clint turned towards The Black Widow to see her smirking at him. "Still gonna kill me?" she asked.

"Was thinking about it…after you threw me to the ground. I think I left my dignity down there somewhere" he replied, as he scanned he looked around at the ground chuckling, which got a small laugh from The Widow too.

"Look out!" he yelled shoving Natalia aside as the sound of gunfire rang out. He took a round to the chest, but got off a couple shots with his side arm taking the guy out before he hit the ground.

"What the fuck?" She questioned somewhat angrily as she dropped down beside him applying pressure to his wound. "Why would you do that?"

"Coz I wasn't gonna kill you and you weren't gonna kill me"

"You don't know that"

"I do, I saw it in your eyes" he told her.

"So that automatically means you have to take a bullet for me? Coz I wasn't gonna kill you? That's some messed up logic you know that" She said rolling her eyes

"Not my first bullet wound, won't be my last" he half-heartedly laughed.

"This is Barton, requesting immediate evac at my location" Clint spoke into his comms.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting us out of here"

"And taking me to the people who sent you to kill me, no way" she protested as she attempted to leave. Only to be held back by Clint.

"Trust me"

"They'll kill me, you know that"

"They won't"

"Pfft" she muttered disbelievingly.

"They won't…. I won't let them. I'll protect you" he reassured her as he looked at her with piercing blue eyes. His eyes held such truth in them that she understood that he meant what he said. Those were the last words he spoke before he passed out from blood loss.

They were the words that echoed in her mind, every time one of them got injured in the line of duty. Every time they went on a mission together and he would give her that look that she knew meant he had her back. Thanks to Clint Barton, she had a chance at a semi-normal life. No longer a Russian spy but a SHIELD agent. Working alongside the man who was sent to kill her, but made a different call. The man who took a bullet for her. To this day she doesn't know exactly why, but with every passing day she begins to understand his choice a little more. Clint saw something in her, something he believed to be good, something that with his help she is starting to see. That is what saved her from the life she was leading.

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**Thank you for taking the time to read. I may make this a series of slightly connected one shots. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. Thanks!**


	2. Budapest

**Chapter 2 of my one shots is my take on what went down in Budapest... enjoy.**

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They had been flown into Budapest, and for the past few hours had been staking out the building. Using one of his grappling arrows, Clint made a zip line from their current building, to the one across the street that they had been surveying. With speed and stealth both agents made their way across.

Clint kept watch as Natasha picked the lock to the stairwell entrance like it was a simple every day task. "How many floors?" she asked her partner.

Pulling out the device given to him by SHIELD techs, he scanned his eyes over the buildings schematics. "Three floors, end of the hall on the left" he replied.

"You ready for this?" she questioned as the click of the door unlocking could be heard.

"As always Tasha"

"Would you quit calling me that, you know I hate nicknames"

"Sorry Nat, I can't help it" Clint replied with a smug grin.

"Asshole…" she said glaring at him, but he knew she didn't mean it. He never missed the subtle way the corner of her mouth turned upwards. She couldn't hide her smile form him. He was Hawkeye after all, he saw everything.

Clint opened the door and gestured for his partner to take the lead. "Ladies first…"

"Always the gentleman huh Barton" she laughed.

"Only for you Sweetheart" he added with a smile.

"Keep dreaming Clint"

"You know you love my nicknames, admit it"

"The only thing I'll be doing in putting my knife in your chest if you don't shut up" she warned.

"Alright, jokes aside. Let's go to work"

The two agents silently made their way down each floor, only coming across two guards as they reached their destination. The first was quickly taken out by one of Hawkeyes arrows, laced with a sedative straight into his leg. While Agent Romanoff took down the other, swinging herself off his body in an elegant and somewhat gymnastic way and throwing him to the floor, quickly followed up by a swift blow to the head knocking him unconscious.

"Nice" Barton chuckled.

Black Widow took a key card from one of the men and inserted it in the door. "Let's move" she told Clint as the light on the lock shone green.

Clint drug the two incapacitated guards in behind them and left them in the corner, so not to draw attention to anyone passing through the hall. It only took a matter of minutes for Natasha to hack the system and copy the data to a flash drive. She tapped one final key to erase the hard drive completely then turned to her partner with a triumphant grin on her face. "Piece of cake"

"Time to go" Clint said to his partner. "This is Agent Barton requesting evac at our location in 10" he spoke into his comms.

"Copy that Barton, evac on the way" came the voice of Agent Coulson on the other end.

After checking that the hallway was clear the two agents made their way back up to the rooftop. "Our ride should be here any minute" Clint said as he made his way to the edge of the building, scouting the distance with his Hawkeye vision.

Before Romanoff could reply the door to the stairwell burst open behind them, half a dozen men spilling out onto the roof, all with guns pointed at the two Shield Agents. With nothing but a quick glance at one another, Barton and Romanoff raised their weapons and opened fire. With great speed and deadly accuracy three of the men were taken out by Clint's arrows. Leaving the other three to Agent Romanoff who gladly put a couple of bullet holes in each of them, but not before one of their bullets clipped Agent Barton in the side.

Black Widow took a moment to check all six men were dead before rushing to her partners side, who was now crouched on the ground.

"It's nothing Nat, I'm fine" he tried to reassure her.

"I call bullshit…" she stated bluntly. "You're gonna need stitches".

"Don't I always?" he laughed.

"Looks like our rides here" she told him, helping him back to his feet as the chopper approached.

As it hovered above them, a Shield agent threw down a couple of ropes for the two master assassins. Before they had a chance to get anywhere near the chopper an RPG came out of nowhere completely destroying the tail rotor, causing the helicopter to spiral out of control.

Quickly Clint drew back an arrow firing it at the man who had emerged from the stairwell to destroy their ticket home. "Son of a Bitch!" Clint yelled as the chopper came crashing to the ground below in a ball of fire.

"C'mon we gotta get out of here" he yelled as he grabbed his partner dragging her to the edge of the building. He fired an arrow with a wire attached to his bow into the air conditioning unit, pulling tight to make sure it was secure. "Hold on tight" he said as he pulled her flush with his body, without hesitation she wrapped her arms around his neck. Clint propelled the two of them off the side of the building and the abseiled to the ground with his bow.

"This is Romanoff, the chopper is down. I repeat the chopper is down!" she yelled through her comms, as Clint detached the wire.

"This way, c'mon!" he said, pulling her down the alley.

They made it three blocks before a couple of SUV's were on their tail. Ducking for cover behind an empty bus, Clint fired off an explosive arrow taking out the front tyre of one of the vehicles, flipping it instantly. As it rolled across the road, the second vehicle had to swerve, narrowly missing it, instead ploughing into a pillar of a nearby building.

A dozen armed men exited the vehicles, taking cover behind anything they could find. They had the two Agents pinned down. These guys weren't playing around, they were well trained mercenaries.

"What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?" Barton asked, glancing across at his partner.

"On three, you fire an explosive arrow at the blue sedan on the left, I will shoot anyone that emerges… got it? Natasha asked. Clint nodded in response. "Right, 1…2…3…"

As instructed Clint fired the arrow at the blue car, as it went up in flames three of the men scattered to find cover, each of them taken out by one of Black Widow's bullets. The two Agents took cover once again.

"Great work Nat, three down… nine to go. You see the silver mini-van off to the left? There are a couple guys hiding out behind there" Clint told his partner.

"Okay, I'll make a run for that car across the street and draw their fire, you take out as many as you can"

"Be careful Tasha" Clint said as he got an arrow ready.

Natasha's heart pounded in her chest as she sprinted towards the other vehicle, behind her she could hear the tell tale sound of arrows flying through the air. Quickly she launched herself the last few metres and came sliding to a halt behind the car.

Looking over at her partner he signalled that he'd managed to take down another four. Great, five more left. "I'll draw their fire Nat, shoot as many as you can see… go!" he shouted as he stood up firing off multiple explosive arrows, causing the mercenaries to scatter. Natasha emptied the clips on both her guns taking down three more guys as Barton ran to where she was hiding.

"I'm out" Nat said as she discarded the empty mags from her Glock 26's"

"Last one" Clint told her as he reached for the single remaining arrow in his quiver.

"Then let's make it count, I'm going for it. Cover me" Romanoff stated. Before Barton could protest her choice of action she had taken off at a sprint. Clint jumped up on top of the vehicle and scanned the area with his Hawkeye vision, watching his partner in his peripheral. As she neared an over turned SUV Clint saw one of the mercs emerge, gun aimed at his partner. Clint released his final arrow and watched it soar through the air, piercing the man right in his chest.

Agent Romanoff vaulted over the overturned vehicle driving both feet into the chest over the remaining mercenary. As she regained her footing the man got up taking a swing at her. Quickly blocking his attack she countered with an elbow to the side of his face. Slamming her foot into his knee with a sickening crack she brought him to the ground following up with one swift punch knocking him unconscious.

"Nice job Nat" Clint said brushing his hand across her arm with a smile.

"Hey Coulson, a ride out of her would be good right about now" Romanoff spoke into her comms.

"Helicopter is already on its way" came his reply.

"Let me take a look" Nat said as she reached for Barton's vest.

"I'm fine Tasha"

"You won't be fine if you don't let me have a look coz I'll kill you myself" she threatened jokingly

Clint caved and undid his vest, removing it completely. Romanoff lifted up his tank top to survey the bullet wound that was a deep graze just below his ribs.

"We have to take this off" she said tugging at his tank top.

"Trying to get me naked Nat? You haven't even taken me to dinner yet" Clint joked.

"You wish" she countered as she pulled the item of clothing over his head. Using her knife she cut half the fabric into a long strip. Folding the rest of the material she pressed it against his wound and tightly wrapped the other half around his torso holding the makeshift bandage firm against his body.

"Thanks" he smiled as she helped him back to his feet.

"If I ever come back to Budapest, it'll be too soon" Clint said as he casually wandered down the half demolished street with his partner at his side.

"I second that" Romanoff replied with a slight grin.

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**Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading**


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